The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-07-06
WHOLE NO. 1877.
THE REBEL FLAGS.
sI1 uesDnnD nnorrIs.. 40 rArrE

There are upward y thousand flag
in what is for the present the flag room
of the War Department. Of these nearl,
500 are Rebel flags" so-named in th,
record book bearing the ti1se, Record 0
Rebel flags captured by tbe Union troops
since april 10, SOL Over 200 are Fed
eral eolos aiken by Confederate troops
and found in Rich ,ond after the evacua
ton of that city. The balance are alse
Federal colors, regimenta, flags tsrnec
over to the War Department by the vari
Gus State organizations. The latter art
all on stahs- The real history Of the Con.
federate flags would be more interesting
than the few lines each one gets in the
record book. Some Of these are made oi
women's dresses. " here cashmere on
other woolen material was used, as in
several, they have been eaten into shrpds
By moths. They were 10 doubt worn
out when placed in the department
twenty years ago, but now they are liter
ally IN tatters. Blues have faded into
white and red into faint pink. The stars
have dropped ont, and when unfurled.
little bits fall TO the floor, The largest
flag in the lot is the garrison flag Of Fort
Tyler, West Point, recaptured By the lst
Wisconsin, I'd Indiana and 7th Kentucl /
regiments The sma lest isa tiny guidon
trken from the First Irish Brigade. or
69th New-York in that brigade. I be-
lieve tt was the glory OF fb.- 69th to boast
Of never h wing lr7t its cylrs. Aftef he
war, while many oftbe f~.s were in the
ordnance muser n in Ninder's BuibT-ng
soldiers of the 69th drop ;ng in as Wis.
tors were taken down as the ma in
charge expressed it, by seeing their .ost
guidJn. Number 236 "a a Union fac
ma e by Mrs Hetty McEwen, foate..
from her house at the the the city of
Mas vile Tenn, WIS in pt- session of the
Sou !, and was found ST i waving there
wht cen. BuelPs arn..r took the city"
The lag about which here is perhaps
MOI curiosity is small black flag, hav-
ing single white star in the centre. This
was among the flags Ia he Ordnance
mrs um and attracted NE attention of
visit rs, who regarded il a. they would
pira cal signal of no q,'arter. Indeed,
son. wag had written on. lhe corne- the
wor % No quarter The late General
Ny, ., | am told, declared this flag to be
r el signal flag, made black to show
elea y against bright sky A lag cap
tured from General Long streets Corps
had these remarks ON paper pasted on
the staff: Mr.. Yankee, YOU will please
turn this flag. staff, and shoulder belt
over to the 9th Maine; was captured at
st. Gilmore on the 10Th Oct. 1864, by
Third Forks Regt. Vol (Signedj big
When the captured Umon nags were
found at Richmond. there were also with
the Rebel archives sent up 10 Washing
ton a collection OF designs fora Confeder-
ate flag. With the devices were letters
tN NplsAlIAiiE tilflA httSAiltIA- iput III aAis
ever 200, there were not above half doz-
en- devices without the stars The ar
of the stars made infinite va
riety, but through all, the mullet or FIVE
pointed star was retained, showing that,
desirous as the Confederates were to get
a flag unlike the Yankee" emblem, the
old feeling could not shake off attach
ment TO the stars. And in almost every
letter with a device for the flag, reference
is made to retaining the stars, though /
sometimes ignoring the stripes. One Con-
federate wrote " Let the Yankees keep
their ridiculous tune of Yankee Doodle,
but by all that is sacred DO not let them
monopolize the stars and stripes You
have fought well under our glorious ban
ner; could YOU fight as well under anoth-
er? Never. Change it improve it, alter
it as you will but for Heavens sake keep
the stars and stripes"
Another said Do not give up the
stars and stripes 20 the North. II is ours
as fully as it is theirs Keep the
stripes, keep the azure field, anda star for
each sovereignty in the constellation, and
then diminish it by a red cross the South
ern cross cutting the stripes at right an
giles. The songs of nation and its
flag have prodiguous moral influence"
One Confederate alone wrote against
the stars and in favor of the stripes. "He
said " | don't like the cross. It is signif-
icant Of Catholic rule and had too much
to do with the machinery of the dark
ages. The old stars must, | think be
abandoned. They belong to night, and
besides the North viii keep them. 1t is
morning with US. Let there be seven
stripes, one for each of the original States,
as the thirteen We're for the original States
of the old Confederacy. Let them be YER
teal instead of Horizontal"
One writing wholly in favor Of the
stars, sent his device and said: ave
still have star-spangled banner which
is dear to the people from old associations
and we can afford to let the Yankees keep
the stripes We are entitled to star
spangled banner, because the best poet
RI in honor of it was composed by "a
southern man, and the incident which
occasioned its composition occurred on
Southern soil and reflected honor on
Southern soldiers"